- Feb 10, 2012
- 8
- 0
- 18,510
This is my current desktop setup + monitors
CPU - Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.4Ghz (OC'ed to 3.0Ghz)
RAM - 4GB DDR2 (800Mhz/PC6400)
MB - Gigabyte GA-G41M-ES2L (rev 1.0)
CPU Cooler - XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 CPU Cooler
GPU - EVGA Geforce GTX 560 Ti Superclocked 1GB
HDD - 1TB WD Blue HDD, SATA III, 64MB Cache
PSU - Corsair TX750
SyncMaster 943BWX (19")
ViewSonic VP2030b (20")
As you can see, my CPU/MB/RAM are rather archaic, which I purchased back in 2007 (OC'ed to 3.0Ghz a number of years later after getting that CPU cooler). GPU/PSU were purchased early 2012, and just got that HDD after my last one crash-n-burned. This setup has done me well for its time. I ran 3DMark recently, and this is the results I got
http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/2386097
Icestorm was a cakewalk to run. Cloudgate handled well at 720p and about 120fps (though my GPU was reaching close to 80 Celsius, and the physics test crapped out). Firestrike is what you would expect with that setup: a slideshow. The 3 smaller tests (not combined) were about 15fps on average.
Now, I'm looking to have about a ~$600 budget towards this initial upgrade (possibly more, but let's assume this much for now). The CPU/MB/RAM were my first guess to upgrade (based on age), followed by the GPU at some point. Don't think I need to upgrade the PSU. The question is: Should I upgrade now? I know I need to upgrade at some point, but is now the time to do so? Haswell Refresh is coming soon, but I hear it's not much of an improvement over the current Haswells/Ivy Bridge (though all of those are definitely better than what I have). Then it follows with Broadwell (supposedly still not much better), then Skylake (which is likely to be the next true jump). Then there is also Nvidia revealing a new card in March, launching in May.
I'm not expecting to upgrade to the latest/best stuff, but mainly getting upgrades that are of good value for the price (with as little diminishing returns) that will last me a good half a decade at least. I'd likely need to get a new case the moment I upgrade the MB, so that would need to be factored in. I'm just assuming the CPU/MB/RAM need to be upgraded first, but it could very well be that you all think the GPU should be upgraded instead at this point in time, so I'll let you answer that question. I've had some (on other forums when I asked this) talk about adding an SSD to further improve performance, though it may not offer much with my current system.
So again, should I upgrade now, or should I wait? If I should upgrade, what should I upgrade, and what would be a good upgrade to take its place? I do some decent gaming, but I also do programming/development, and may be doing some video editing/converting in the future. Technically, I do a lot of multi-tasking, if that helps in how I should upgrade. I also lean towards Intel CPUs and Nvidia GPUs, in case anyone was wondering.
CPU - Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.4Ghz (OC'ed to 3.0Ghz)
RAM - 4GB DDR2 (800Mhz/PC6400)
MB - Gigabyte GA-G41M-ES2L (rev 1.0)
CPU Cooler - XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 CPU Cooler
GPU - EVGA Geforce GTX 560 Ti Superclocked 1GB
HDD - 1TB WD Blue HDD, SATA III, 64MB Cache
PSU - Corsair TX750
SyncMaster 943BWX (19")
ViewSonic VP2030b (20")
As you can see, my CPU/MB/RAM are rather archaic, which I purchased back in 2007 (OC'ed to 3.0Ghz a number of years later after getting that CPU cooler). GPU/PSU were purchased early 2012, and just got that HDD after my last one crash-n-burned. This setup has done me well for its time. I ran 3DMark recently, and this is the results I got
http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/2386097
Icestorm was a cakewalk to run. Cloudgate handled well at 720p and about 120fps (though my GPU was reaching close to 80 Celsius, and the physics test crapped out). Firestrike is what you would expect with that setup: a slideshow. The 3 smaller tests (not combined) were about 15fps on average.
Now, I'm looking to have about a ~$600 budget towards this initial upgrade (possibly more, but let's assume this much for now). The CPU/MB/RAM were my first guess to upgrade (based on age), followed by the GPU at some point. Don't think I need to upgrade the PSU. The question is: Should I upgrade now? I know I need to upgrade at some point, but is now the time to do so? Haswell Refresh is coming soon, but I hear it's not much of an improvement over the current Haswells/Ivy Bridge (though all of those are definitely better than what I have). Then it follows with Broadwell (supposedly still not much better), then Skylake (which is likely to be the next true jump). Then there is also Nvidia revealing a new card in March, launching in May.
I'm not expecting to upgrade to the latest/best stuff, but mainly getting upgrades that are of good value for the price (with as little diminishing returns) that will last me a good half a decade at least. I'd likely need to get a new case the moment I upgrade the MB, so that would need to be factored in. I'm just assuming the CPU/MB/RAM need to be upgraded first, but it could very well be that you all think the GPU should be upgraded instead at this point in time, so I'll let you answer that question. I've had some (on other forums when I asked this) talk about adding an SSD to further improve performance, though it may not offer much with my current system.
So again, should I upgrade now, or should I wait? If I should upgrade, what should I upgrade, and what would be a good upgrade to take its place? I do some decent gaming, but I also do programming/development, and may be doing some video editing/converting in the future. Technically, I do a lot of multi-tasking, if that helps in how I should upgrade. I also lean towards Intel CPUs and Nvidia GPUs, in case anyone was wondering.
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